Ellie Chowns MP: written questions
232 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Electoral Register: Young PeopleMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 2 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64625More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of time required to ensure adequate levels of (a) awareness and (b) voter registration ahead of a General Election in which 16 year olds vote.
Answer: The government believes that enabling 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in all UK elections will foster early and sustained participation in civic life and enhance engagement in our democratic processes. We want young people to find their voice and exercise th...
Answered 8 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: FinanceTreasuryTabled 1 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64198More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on conditions attached to the spending of the farming budget to ensure (a) value for money, (b) increased food
Answer: The Chancellor and I have regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on a range of matters. Defra’s settlement will invest more than £2.7 billion a year in sustainable farming and nature recovery from 2026-27 u...
Answered 9 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordEnvironment ProtectionDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 1 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64197More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is for publication of the revised Environmental Improvement Plan.
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Tamworth on 17 March 2025, UIN 37341.
Answered 8 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordForests: CommoditiesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 1 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64196More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the time taken to introduce the due diligence scheme for forest risk commodities enabled by schedule 17 of the Environment Act 20
Answer: Deforestation linked to UK consumption is estimated to have fallen by 55% since 2005. However, progress has slowed over the last decade and in 2022 UK consumption was still associated with 35.6 thousand hectares of deforestation. The Government recognises...
Answered 8 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordOffice for Environmental Protection: Public AppointmentsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 1 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64195More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to ensure that the process of appointing the new Chair of the Office for Environmental Protection protects its independence.
Answer: The Chair role is appointed by the Secretary of State acting jointly with the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. The appointment will be conducted in line with the Governance Code on Public Appointments as regulated...
Answered 9 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture: FinanceDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 1 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64194More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to ensure the farming budget is used to meet legally-binding (a) environmental targets under the Environment Act 2021 and (b) emissions reduction ta
Answer: As a result of the spending review and determination of the farming budget for this period: We are prioritising investment that supports the Government’s Plan for Change and builds on the Secretary of State’s work to reform Defra to drive growth while mai...
Answered 8 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordFuneral PaymentsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 1 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64186More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 57896 on Funeral Payments, how many applicants (a) responsible for funeral costs and (b) in receipt of a qualifying benefit did not receive a social fu
Answer: The information requested is not held centrally and to provide it would incur a disproportionate cost.
Answered 9 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordBusiness: Environment Protection and Human RightsDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 1 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 64177More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the petition entitled Introduction of a business, human rights and environment act, submitted to his Department on 19 June
Answer: The Department for Business and Trade has engaged with the Corporate Justice Coalition on the petition entitled Introduction of a business, human rights and environment act, submitted on 19 June 2025. In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a revie...
Answered 4 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordOccupied Territories: Overseas CompaniesForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 30 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63879More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, published on 30 June 2023, whether (a) he and (b) officials from his Department had dis
Answer: We are aware of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights database but do not comment on individual businesses. The Government does not encourage or offer support to business activity in Israeli settlements. When approached by bu...
Answered 6 Aug 2025
Original Parliament recordOverseas Trade: Occupied TerritoriesDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 30 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63878More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether any guidance has been issued to UK businesses following the ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territor
Answer: The UK Government has a clear position that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal under international law. There are clear risks related to economic and financial activities in the settlements, and we do not encourage or ...
Answered 8 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordBritish Overseas Territories: CompaniesForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 30 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63875More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure the Overseas Territories introduce public registers of beneficial ownership.
Answer: Please refer to my Written Ministerial Statement of 3 July which provides an update and details of next steps.We have made very clear to our partners in the remaining Overseas Territories the importance of delivering on the previously committed to deadlin...
Answered 10 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordWarm Homes Plan: FinanceDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 27 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63367More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Spending Review 2025, CP 1336, published on 11 June 2025, how much and what proportion of the £5 billion funding for the Warm Homes Plan identified as financial transact
Answer: The Government has committed £5 billion funding as financial transactions. We will work with the UK’s expert public finance institutions, including the NWF (National Wealth Fund), to agree ways to support the delivery of the Warm Homes Plan through this. ...
Answered 7 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordDisease Control: CompensationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 26 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63221More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make future disease outbreak compensation payments conditional on (a) evidence of private insurance in place and (b) demonstrable compliance with specified biosecurity stand
Answer: Compensation is paid by Defra for animals culled by the Government for disease control purposes, as set out in the Animal Health Act 1981. In addition to the financial support offered to producers directly affected by outbreaks through compensation, produ...
Answered 3 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordAvian Influenza: CompensationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 26 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63220More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the detailed criteria his Department uses to calculate avian flu compensation payments for industrial poultry units.
Answer: Compensation paid for birds culled by the Government for disease control purposes is designed to promote prompt reporting of suspicion of disease and is only payable for healthy birds as set out in the Animal Health Act 1981. There is no compensation avai...
Answered 4 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordPreventive Medicine: FinanceDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 26 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63219More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of ringfencing funding for community preventive health initiatives through the forthcoming NHS 10 Year Plan.
Answer: The 10-Year Health Plan has set out how we will reinvent the National Health Service through the radical shifts, namely hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention. These are the core components of our new care model. To support...
Answered 10 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordSecondary Education: Children in CareDepartment for EducationTabled 26 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63215More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of moving home (a) in the lead up to and (b) during GCSE exams on care-experienced young people’s (i) educational attainment and (ii) future oppor
Answer: The department is committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes. We recognise the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life. Under the Care...
Answered 4 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordSecondary Education: Children in CareDepartment for EducationTabled 26 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63214More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press release by Become entitled New research shows shockingly high numbers of children in care being moved during GCSEs and A-levels, published on 24 June 2025, what assessment her Depart
Answer: The department is committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes. We recognise the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life. Under the Care...
Answered 4 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordSecondary Education: Children in CareDepartment for EducationTabled 26 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63213More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press notice by Become entitled New research shows shockingly high numbers of children in care being moved during GCSEs and A-levels, published on 24 June 2025, if she will make an assessm
Answer: The department is committed to ensuring that looked-after children are supported to succeed in education and achieve positive outcomes. We recognise the critical importance of continuity and stability throughout a looked-after child’s life. Under the Care...
Answered 4 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordSupply Chains: Environment Protection and Human RightsDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 26 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63201More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure a joined-up approach to tackling harms to the (a) environment and (b) human rights in UK supply chains.
Answer: In the Trade Strategy, the Government committed to promoting a coordinated approach to responsible business conduct. The Government’s review into responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses, modern slavery, and environ...
Answered 4 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordSupply Chains: Environment Protection and Human RightsDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 26 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63196More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of whether UK (a) company and (b) public sector supply chains are involved in (i) environmental harms and (ii) human rights abuses (A) in the UK and (B) overseas
Answer: In the Trade Strategy, the Government launched a review into the UK’s approach to responsible business conduct, focused on tackling human rights and labour abuses, modern slavery, and environmental harms in global supply chains.The review will be a neutra...
Answered 8 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordRoads: DatabasesDepartment for TransportTabled 25 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 62788More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department has taken to merge highway records into a single digital record to simplify conveyancing highways searches.
Answer: The Department for Transport (DfT) recognises the value of improving access to highways information for the purposes of conveyancing. For the Strategic Road Network, National Highways has taken significant steps to simplify its own land ownership records....
Answered 1 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordTortureForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 24 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 62500More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to mark UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture; and what steps he plans to take at the UN General Assembly 2025 to press for internationa
Answer: The UK Government remains committed to preventing torture and tackling impunity for those who torture others. It is essential for safeguarding our security and integral to a fair legal system and the rule of law.At the UN General Assembly, we will continu...
Answered 7 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordFuneral PaymentsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 24 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 62414More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, where an application for a Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payment is refused because another family member of the person who died is not in receipt of a qualifying benefit, what assessment her Department
Answer: The eligibility criteria for Funeral Expenses Payments are designed to ensure the scheme is fair for taxpayers while supporting the most vulnerable with these costs. The Funeral Expenses Payment regulations provide for those cases where there is more than...
Answered 1 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordFuneral PaymentsDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 24 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 62413More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how people who are responsible for funeral costs and in receipt of a qualifying benefit have an application for a Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payment refused because of the family tests in the eligibil
Answer: Table 1 shows the number of applicants responsible for funeral cost who were receipt of qualifying benefits but were refused a Funeral Expenses Payment due to the family test reasons below:There is a surviving partnerThere is a closer relativeThey are not...
Answered 26 Jun 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Rented Housing: FinanceMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 24 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 62406More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a target for the number of homes funded by the Affordable Homes Programme that are available for social rent
Answer: The 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme has a target to deliver at least 40,000 social rent homes. My Department published an update on targets in that programme on 30 July 2024 which can be found on gov.uk here.
Answered 2 Jul 2025
Original Parliament record
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